


Under The Stars

by Snromance



Series: Hermione’s Chaser [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Don't Examine This Too Closely, F/F, Fights, Relationship(s), Ron Weasley is a Good Friend, Walks On The Beach
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-12
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-03-18 08:22:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29365446
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Snromance/pseuds/Snromance
Summary: Prompt:Walking under the starsAn honest conversation under the stars saves a relationship
Relationships: Ginny Weasley & Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger/Ginny Weasley
Series: Hermione’s Chaser [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2157096
Comments: 3
Kudos: 19
Collections: With Love Weasley





	Under The Stars

“How many times do I have to say I’m sorry, Hermione?” 

“Until you actually mean it enough to turn up to lunch dates, Ginny!” Hermione spat, storming into the bedroom. 

Ginny sighed deeply, trying to calm her frazzled nerves. She really had tried to make the date, but everything she’d done to try and get to the restaurant on time had made her even later - to the point where it almost hadn’t been worth going at all. 

“I’m sorry! Okay? I really fucking tried - but Gwenog-” 

Hermione’s face dropped back into a colder imitation of the tight expression she’d been wearing two minutes previously. 

Clearly, there was nothing Ginny could say right now that would fix this. Probably didn’t help that she could barely think through how hungry and plain exhausted she was. And stressed. Very stressed.

Resisting the urge to walk the short distance to their bed, Ginny snagged her coat from the rack by the door she’d hung it up on only moments before. She would definitely feel better after some food - maybe even enough to come up with a way of fixing their relationship. 

“Where do you think you’re going?” Hermione snapped.

Ginny just shook her head and met the girls’ eyes briefly “I just need time to clear my head - don’t wait up.” 

Ignoring Hermione’s no doubt outraged expression, Ginny walked out the door, remembering at the last second to charm her quidditch robes into something more Muggle Appropriate. 

Whilst living in a muggle area had initially been Hermione’s idea, Ginny had grown pretty fond of it. She’d found that Muggle areas had the perk of being near shops and pubs that she could go into without being instantly recognised and bombarded with fans. 

The sound of the front door of their building slamming home behind her was satisfying. 

She sighed deeply, the cold February air piercing her lungs. It was clarifying - clean and sharp. Maybe she would walk for a bit, let it clear her head. 

Her stomach rumbled, no doubt complaining about doing a full day of flying on a single, rushed granola bar twelve hours previously. Food would probably be a good idea at some point. But Ginny couldn’t quite bring herself to stop and do something about it - she needed to be moving - working off the anxious feeling at the bottom of her stomach. She hated fighting. 

As she walked along, hands shoved deep in pockets, she thought about their relationship. They’d fought so much recently - it made her question whether they were right for each other after all. And she knew that if she was questioning it, no doubt Hermione would be too. 

But,  _ why _ had they been fighting so much recently?

Most of their fights had been because either she’d been late to dates because of work, or Hermione had brought her work home with her. It was just like they weren’t on the same page anymore - like they weren’t speaking the same language; an odd sensation when you’d been best friends for close to a decade. 

Ginny knew some of it was her fault. She wasn’t as attentive as she should’ve been. Or as kind towards Hermione’s nature. And she should’ve put her foot down more with Gwenog - her time with Hermione should’ve been ring-fenced. 

But then she also knew that it wasn’t  _ all _ on her.

Hermione needed to be more understanding to the fact that she wasn’t the only one trying to advance her career - Gwenog was Ginny’s boss - she couldn’t just tell her to stick that last dive because she was going for lunch. 

Ginny’s stomach clenched and tears prickled at her eyes. Thinking about their problems just made her sad - made her miss what they used to have. 

The way they could just be themselves, and that was okay. To an extent that still was the case, but it just didn’t work, at least not as easily as it had. It had been so simple in the beginning - they had loved each other, and that had been enough. 

And the cuddling - Merlin, she missed the cuddling. Now they were both too busy and too stressed about how work was going (or not going as it had been more recently) to really have enough time or the inclination to do so. 

Ginny slowly exhaled a breath and frantically blinked back tears - she didn’t want to cry - at least not before she had a solution. 

She needed someone to talk this over with and help her come up with a solution - because if things didn’t change they wouldn’t make it to Easter.

Making use of the darkness, Ginny slipped into a shop doorway and checked she wasn’t being observed before disapparating. 

Stumbling slightly on her landing, she quickly left the dodgy alley next to the block of flats her brother and his best friend lived in. His best friend being Harry Potter, who was, of course, her ex-boyfriend. Oh, Merlin, this was going to be fun. 

Thankful the boys lived on the ground floor, Ginny rapped smartly on their door and crossed everything her brother answered and not Harry. 

As her luck would have it, her wish wasn’t granted. 

“Ginny?” Harry asked, somewhat coldly.

“Is Ron in?” 

Harry turned briefly away from her, his eyes wary. “RON! GINNY’S HERE!” 

A loud thump sounded within the flat, followed by several footsteps. Ron appeared at the door, smiling at her crookedly. 

“Ickle Gin Gin - what can I do for you this fucking freezing February evening?” 

Rolling her eyes at her brothers’ antics, she grabbed his hand and tugged him out the front door, turning back to chuck Harry a brittle smile. “You don’t mind do you, Harry?” 

“Ginny, I’m not wearings-!” 

Without waiting for an answer and ignoring her brothers’ protests, she tugged them to a nearby wall. Noticing her brothers’ bare feet and lack of coat, she cast a strong warming charm around them. 

Ron sighed, clearly resigned to his sisters' antics. 

“What’s the matter, Gin?” 

Before she’d even thought about what she was going to say, the events of the past couple of months spilt out of her mouth. Her feelings, her relationship, all of it. Because if anyone was going to understand Hermione from a relationship perspective, it would be Ron - the guy who knew what it was like to be in Ginny’s position and feel like he was losing it. One of the only people in the world who completely  _ got _ Hermione Granger. And the bloke was Ginny’s brother - he had to love her - even if he didn’t agree with her. 

When she finished talking, Ron was lying flat on the wall, his hands covering his face. 

“I take it you want me to tell you what you’ve got to do to fix it?” 

Ginny nodded, “If you have any ideas. Please, Ron, I’m desperate.” 

Ron sighed, sitting up and turning so he was facing her on the wall. 

“From an outside perspective, it sounds like you’ve both been really stressed, yeah? Both had a lot on at work, and a lot of pressure on both of you?” 

Ginny nodded. 

“Maybe that’s the cause of it then, Gin. Sounds like you’ve not really been making time for each other; and when you have actually been together, you’re both so stressed about what else you have going on in your lives that you’re not actually present in the moment.” 

A lump rose in her throat, as tears welled up. But unlike before, this time she let them fall. 

Ron gave her a sad smile, before pulling her in for a tight hug. She’d always loved his hugs - just as she knew Hermione did too - they just made her feel safe. 

Clearing her throat slightly, she pulled away. 

“So what should I do, Ron?” Ginny asked, ignoring the sceptical part of her brain that was laughing at the irony of asking Ron, the guy who had failed so spectacularly at getting himself a date for the Yule Ball, for relationship advice. 

“I’m not an expert, Gin, but maybe all you need to do is talk. Properly. With both of you ignoring the amount you need to do at work, and find that reason you got together in the first place. Decide to put each other above your other priorities. Get on the same page again.” 

Ginny fidgeted with a bit of loose shingle on the side of their wall; hope started to bloom in her chest. She thought she might know what she could do to get them talking again.

“Do you think it’ll be that simple though, Ron?” 

Ron shrugged, “I don’t know, Gin. I’m hopeless with relationships - you know that.” 

Ginny lifted her eyebrow. 

“Doesn’t seem that way to me… Now, I have an idea. Do you think it’ll work?” she asked, pointedly ignoring the blush spreading across Ron’s face. 

  
  


>>>WWW<<<

  
  


Hermione looked up from her book. An owl was tapping at their bedroom window - a letter clasped in its talons. 

She slid her bookmark in her place before climbing out from under the warmth of her blanket and letting the familiar bird in.

Ron’s owl, Moran, landed softly on the edge of an open draw. 

Frowning, Hermione took the letter, wondering why Ron was owling her so late in the evening on a work night. 

But instead of the usual scrawl, Ginny’s neat, yet blocky, handwriting filled the page. 

  
  


_ 14th February 1999  _

_ 21:30 _

_ Shell Beach _

_ I want to talk. _

_ With Love,  _

_ Ginny _

  
  


Hermione instantly felt sick. Was Ginny breaking up with her? 

As much as she hated how lightly Ginny always seemed to take their dates, Hermione still wanted this to work. She wanted to fix it. 

It had just been so different recently - both of them had been so stressed with work. The more stressed Hermione had become, the more they’d seemed to fight. Which added even more stress. They just couldn’t win. 

The obvious solution was to remove the stressor on their relationship - their work. But she couldn’t just quit that - it was what she’d been working her whole life towards, as had Ginny - that wouldn’t be fair to either of them. Besides, they both needed the money their jobs brought in. 

She glanced at her watch, she had 15 minutes to get ready. 

Adding layers rapidly over the top of her pyjamas, and shoving her feet into some socks and a pair of shoes she was pretty sure were Ginny’s, Hermione tried to keep her imagination under control. There was no point in over-thinking - especially when she would have definite answers so soon. 

It was a definite relief when her watch stated it was 21:25 - not early, just prepared. 

She apparated slightly more messily then usual - betraying her anxiety to the seagulls that decorated the roof of Bill and Fleur's dark house. 

Much to her surprise (although she would later wonder why she had been so surprised), Ginny was already sat on a sand dune - made more visible by the suspended weaving labyrinth of deep red flames she’d conjured in front of her. 

Hermione stumbled over to her, regretting her choice of holey (and yet so comfortable) footwear. 

“Ginny?” she called out. 

Ginny got to her feet and turned to face her, a distracted smile gracing her face when she saw the croc’s on Hermione’s feet. 

“Hermione. You got my note, good.”

Hermione nodded. 

“What was it you wanted to talk about? And why did it have to be outside?” she asked, her nose wrinkling as a heavy gust of freezing wind blew her hair about her face. 

Ginny smiled and reached out to tuck a stray curl behind Hermione’s ear. 

“The beach was my brother's idea actually - I knew we needed to have a talk away from everything - but didn’t know where. I like it though, it feels right that we have this conversation under the stars, seeing as that’s where we had the first conversation about getting together.”

Hermione spluttered, “Conversation, Ginny? You actively stopped me from making it into a conversation.”

Ginny smirked, “Oh, yeah. Good point.” 

Hermione rolled her eyes fondly, “So, what conversation are we having?” 

Ginny sobered, “Walk with me?” 

Hermione nodded, tucking Ginny’s arm through her own. It was moments like these that made all the fighting worth it. 

“I’ve been thinking about why we’ve been arguing more, and I think I know how to stop it,” Ginny stated nervously, staring unseeing out at the reflection of the moon in the sea. “If this is going to work; we need to put each other above work, Hermione.” 

Hermione nodded, smiling softly at the almost ethereal girl illuminated by the moon. 

“I’ve been thinking the same thing, Ginny. Something has to give but I don’t want to give up work. You’re my best friend, and if soul mates were to exist, you would be mine. You are perfect - and I can’t lose you. But I agree - we need to get better at compartmentalisation. Draw lines in the sand,” She drew her foot through the sand. “And don’t cross them.” 

Hermione took both of Ginny’s hands in her own, “And I need to get better at not jumping at you for things you can’t help. I’m sorry for what I said earlier - I should’ve just talked to you. Maybe that’s something we can work on as well - communicating?” 

Ginny nodded, her smile reaching her eyes, “Yes, definitely.” 

Hermione mock-gasped in a way that would’ve shocked pre-Ginny Hermione, “Are you saying I’m bad at communication?” 

Ginny nodded, her face serious - but the twitch of her mouth giving her away, “Yes.” 

Hermione laughed, revealing in the feeling of their relationship problems lifting from her shoulders. 

Ginny squeezed her hands, “I’ll try harder too, to show you I care, and that I’m just as frustrated with Gwenog for keeping me for lunch. Oh, I had an idea about that too, maybe I could send a patronus when I’m not going to be able to make a lunch date?” 

Hermione nodded, that was a good idea. 

“Maybe we should be more patient with each other when it comes to work too? Given we both can’t control that much of our work lives at the moment.” 

Ginny smiled, “Like we just stop for a minute and moan about how the world is conspiring against us - to remind ourselves that it's out of our control that the date didn’t work.” 

“Yes,” Hermione said, bringing Ginny forwards into a hug. “I’ve missed you so much.” 

Ginny squeezed around her middle, “Me too. Let’s try and always be on the same page, I hate it so much when we’re not.” 

“So do I!” Hermione said, starting to shiver. “Do you want to go for a walk before we go home and make use of that space heater mum got for us?” 

Ginny pulled back and tugged her down off the sand dune onto the beach. 

“I can’t believe you wore those Crocs - I’m never going to get the sand out…”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading - and apologies for how terrible this is. I mean at least it's actually edited now.... 
> 
> Thank you for all your awesomeness! And I hope you all have a truly excellent day. :)
> 
> SNR


End file.
